The armed, masked thieves entered the closed store by breaking a plate glass window, injuring a security guard in the process. They escaped with approximately €1.2M ($1.6M USD) worth of merchandise. Security cameras reportedly caught the raiders loading dozens of MacBook Pros, iPads, and iPhones into a waiting van, which then sped off. According to police, the suspects took "very little" money -- their primary target was the electronics.

The police at the time were preoccupied with keeping the peace on the streets of Paris amidst the massive crowds (likely why the bandits timed the heist for that particular time). Thus, by the time they arrived the suspects had escaped. As of this morning they remain at large, but the Paris police vow to do "everything possible" to apprehend them.

Christophe Crepin, an Unsa police union official, remarks to the French newspaper Le Parisien, "The four hooded and heavily armed criminals made their move very quickly. Most of the police forces were being mobilised to monitor the Champs Elysees, so the robbers have clearly benefitted from this opportunity to strike."

Thieves looted iPads and iPhones from the Paris's Opera district Apple Store last night.

The iPhone and iPads are known to carry certain location aware security features, so it may prove difficult to discretely fence the stolen Apple goods. However, given the devices popularity it would not be surprising to find some Parisians willing to buy an authentic i-device at discount from a shadowy purveyor.

In fact, i-devices are common targets for snatching-style thefts on the streets of Paris. According to the UK-based Daily Mail a "vast black market in prestigious Apple products" exists both on the streets and online in Paris.

The robbery was the first of this scale at the high-volume Paris location, and was the first robbery with guns to occur at that location.

The raid comes just weeks after another audacious theft -- a robbery which saw 7,000 Nintendo Comp., Ltd. (TYO:7974) Wii U consoles from a warehouse in the Seattle, Wash. area.

If they are able to put it together with whatever one might expect, like a charging cable, I don't know how one can tell a lightly-used legit item and a stolen one, particularly if they fence the items through people with good (possibly even faked/puffed up) feedback ratings.

One way to tell would be via the sales invoice with the date of sale, which coincidentally is also needed for the 1-2 year garanty the devices have. Buying anything younger than 2 years where the seller not having the sales receipt should be highly suspicious, no?

The thing is that people buying those kinds of wares pretty much know the score if the price is too low or no receipt is provided. If they get fucked in the process it’s their own fault and crying after the fact just makes them look even more stupid.